If the element that receives the pin is spherical in shape and pivotable in a socket, these joints are called ball-and-socket joints. Such a rolling bearing-mounted ball-and-socket joint is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,770. The pin is rotatably secured by a ball bearing to the flat undersurface of the spherical element which is mounted with its semispherical surface through a plurality of small bearing balls for pivoting in a spherical recess. Ball-and-socket joints of this type are used in the field of front wheel suspensions of automotive vehicles. The drawback of these rolling bearing-mounted ball-and-socket joints is, on the one hand, that due to the pointwise contact of the spherical element with a plurality of small bearing balls, high Hertzian stresses occur and, on the other hand, these joints possess an inadequate rigidity.
However, in addition to the automotive industry, other uses are also conceivable in which a low rigidity of the joints is undesirable. This is the case in the sector of machine tools when omnidirectionally orientable joints are used for the positioning of tools. In this case, joints are required that can effect a pin-point positioning of a tool.